One dead, 16 injured at Berlin Pride event after vehicle driven into crowd
One person has died and at least 16 others have been injured at a Berlin Pride event after a vehicle was driven into a crowd in the city centre.
Police say they have identified a male suspect but have not arrested him or released a name, adding he is “known to the police and is associated with the Islamist spectrum.”
An intensive manhunt is still under way, which has expanded to the entire city. The annual pride event, also known as Christopher Street Day, has been cancelled.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in a statement he would “make sure this horrific act is fully investigated and punished”.
“We believe that a vehicle entered the Tiergarten park and hit several people and injured them,” police posted on social media.
Revellers were celebrating the finale of the Christopher Street Day celebrations in front of the Brandenburg Gate, which backs onto the large park in central Berlin, when the incident took place.
Eyewitnesses said a white van sped into a crowd of people in the Tiergarten shortly after 22:00 local time, according to local media.
Witnesses said they saw a car driving “very quickly” into the crowd and heard screams as people ran into Tiergarten park trying to hide.
A police spokesperson told media at the scene that after driving into the area, the vehicle “came to a standstill after hitting a tree here in the Tiergarten”.
The vehicle was later found abandoned there, police told AFP.
Emergency responders treated the injured nearby, including some with life-threatening injuries, according to police.
Images showed a large emergency services presence at the scene, with one person seen being carried into an ambulance on a stretcher.
A number of police officers as well as rescue units from the fire department were deployed to the area. Police have appealed to the public for information and footage of the incident to aid their investigation.
The mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner, called the incident “an attack on our free and open-minded society”.
“My thoughts are with the victims, their families, and their friends,” he wrote on social media. “I have confidence in the police and security authorities, who will be investigating with the utmost urgency.”
Earlier on Saturday, huge crowds took part in the Pride march through the city, which is the biggest in a series of events across Germany celebrating the rights of the LGBT community.
Christopher Street Day commemorates the first known uprising among the LGBT community in New York City in 1969 at the Stonewall Inn, which is located on Christopher Street.
The city typically expects a million people for the event, which includes musical performances, a parade and political speeches.
When the vehicle drove into the crowd, the screen at the Brandenburg Gate displayed a large warning reading “evacuation”, and people left the event.
Earlier this year, two people were killed and 22 injured in when a car drove into a pedestrian zone in Liepzig.
By BBC News